RAF Heathfield

RAF Heathfield RNAS Ayr (HMS Wagtail) USAAF Station 570
Prestwick, South Ayrshire in Scotland
RAF Heathfield Shown within South Ayrshire Show map of South Ayrshire RAF Heathfield RAF Heathfield (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	55°29′10″N 004°35′56″W
Type	Royal Air Force station Parent Station
Code	AR[1]
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force Royal Navy United States Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Fighter Command 1941-44 * No. 13 Group RAF Fleet Air Arm 1944-46
Site history
Built	1940 (1940)
In use	April 1941-1946 (1946)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation	15 metres (49 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 01/19 1,261 metres (4,137 ft) Tarmac/Asphalt 06/24 1,463 metres (4,800 ft) Tarmac/Asphalt 13/31 1,097 metres (3,599 ft) Tarmac/Asphalt

Royal Air Force Heathfield, or more commonly RAF Heathfield, sometimes known as RAF Ayr/Heathfield due to its proximity to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, which was also used by military flights, is a former Royal Air Force station. It opened in April 1941 as an airbase for day and night fighter squadrons. In September 1944 it transferred to Fleet Air Arm control and commissioned as HMS Wagtail. The Royal Navy paid off the airbase in March 1946 and it was reduced to care and maintenance. The United States Air Force used it for storage between 1951 and 1957.

Like many other wartime airfields, its runways were of the triangular layout.

History

Royal Air Force use

The following units were posted here at some point:

• No. 1 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 3 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 18 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 26 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 56 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 64 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 72 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 81 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 130 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 141 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 165 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 169 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 186 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 219 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 222 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 232 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 239 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 241 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 278 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 281 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 282 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 289 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 313 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 322 (Dutch) Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 329 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 340 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 345 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 402 Squadron RCAF[2]
• No. 406 Squadron RCAF[2]
• No. 410 Squadron RCAF[2]
• No. 438 Squadron RCAF[2]
• No. 439 (Fighter Bomber) Squadron RCAF[2]
• No. 440 (Fighter Bomber) Squadron RCAF[2]
• No. 485 Squadron RNZAF[2]
• No. 486 Squadron RNZAF[2]
• No. 488 Squadron RNZAF[2]
• No. 516 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 602 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 611 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 651 Squadron RAF[2]
• No. 652 Squadron RAF[2]

Units

• No. 8 Gliding School RAF (May 1944 – June 1945)[3]
• Detachment from No. 13 Group Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Flight (1941)[4]
• No. 22 (RCAF) (Fighter) Wing (January – February 1944)[5]
• Detachment from No. 58 Operational Training Unit RAF (October 1942)[6]
• No. 143 (RCAF) Airfield (January – March 1944)[7]
• 415th Night Fighter Squadron, with the USAAF regarding the location as USAAF Station 570[2]
• No. 1490 (Fighter) Gunnery Flight (April – October 1943)[8] then No. 14 Armament Practice Camp (October 1943 – September 1944)[9]
• No. 1497 (Target Towing) Flight (June – July 1943)[10]

Royal Navy

HMS Wagtail (1944-1946)

The airbase was transferred on loan to the Admiralty, from No. 13 Group RAF, on 6 September 1944. The Royal Navy took over with Commander(A) H.L. McCullock as CO. Known as Royal Naval Air Station Ayr (RNAS Ayr), it was commissioned shortly afterwards, on 20 October, as HMS Wagtail.[11] One runway was redesigned and used by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm to practice aircraft carrier landings.

HMS Wagtail was 'paid off' by the Royal Navy on 10 March 1946 and it was reduced to Care & Maintenance Status, administered by RNAS Abbotsinch.[11]

Commanding officers

List of commanding officers of HMS Wagtail with date of appointment:

• Commander(A) H.L. McCullock, RN, from 6 September 1944

Units based at HMS Wagtail

List of units associated with HMS Wagtail, in support of disembarked fighter squadrons and a Fleet Requirements Unit:[11]

Function

• Support for disembarked fighter squadrons
• Bombardment Spotting School
• No.3 Barracuda Servicing Unit
• Flag Officer Carrier Training Squadron.
• Accommodation for two RAF Squadrons.

Squadrons at HMS Wagtail

A list of Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm aviation squadrons that were either stationed at or deployed to HMS Wagtail:

• 730 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 740 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 768 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 770 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 772 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 800 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 802 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 808 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 812 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 815 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 819 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 821 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 824 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 825 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 835 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 837 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 846 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 848 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 853 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 860 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 882 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 885 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 886 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 889 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 896 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 899 Naval Air Squadron[2]
• 1770 Naval Air Squadron[12]
• 1771 Naval Air Squadron[13]
• 1840 Naval Air Squadron[14]
• 1841 Naval Air Squadron[15]
• 1843 Naval Air Squadron[16]
• 1845 Naval Air Squadron[17]
• 1846 Naval Air Squadron[17]
• 1850 Naval Air Squadron[18]

United States Air Force

The site was used by the United States Air Force (USAF) between 1951 and 1957 for aircraft storage use. From then on the USAF decided to solely use the adjacent Prestwick.[2]

Current use

The site is now a mixture of housing, farmland and a golf club.[2]

See also

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

References

Citations

1. Falconer 2012, p. 38.
2. "Ayr II (Heathfield)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
3. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 163.
4. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 179.
5. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 314.
6. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 242.
7. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 54.
8. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 136.
9. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 74.
10. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 137.
11. "R.N.A.S. Ayr". Royal Navy Research Archive - Fleet Air Arm Bases 1939 - present day. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
12. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 338.
13. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 339.
14. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 352.
15. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 353.
16. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 355.
17. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 357.
18. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 359.

Bibliography

• Berry, P (2005) Prestwick Airport and Scottish Aviation
• Falconer, J (1998). RAF Fighter Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-2175-9.
• Falconer, J (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.
• Sturtivant, R; Ballance, T (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
• Sturtivant, R; Hamlin, J; Halley, J (1997). Royal Air Force flying training and support units. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-252-1.
• "RAF Ayr". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. 15 July 2023.
• "Ayr (HMS Wagtail)". Fleet Air Arm Archive. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008.